In Reiss's chat, he said the brandons were the ones laughing it up after the Miami game. Don't think that BB won't use that against them this week. I, for one, am glad to see Sanders back if it happens. He may not be a playmaker like Merriweather, but he is a leader.Posted by Caesar1177

they should put merriweather at CB.. making such radical changes at safety is not right esp for doing nothing egregious. wont come out good in the locker room. the brandons have been there all year! both have earned bel's praises and won awards. sanders makes all the plays and is always in position. i believe chung and sanders both play the same position. in nickel or dimes, extra db situatn, i would move merri to extra CB with sanders up there with mcgowan at safety. chung is still learng!

patsfan from what I know it was in the locker room after the game during the media time in the locker room. Members of the media came out after the lose and said it weird seeing some of the players laughing it up after the game like they didnt just lose the game and how weird that was since in the past you would never see that after a lose in the Pats locker room. So that is where it came from. I dont have a link but thats what happened. Why they were laughing doesnt really matter.Posted by MVPKilla2009

Well, at least they weren't laughing after a miserable performance at home. It would be a shame for the people that save up for an entire year so they can bring their kid to a game and have an idiot like merriweather, who didnt make a single tackle(against 52 pass attempts!) the entire game, laughing. Guess thats ok though?

You really think that if they were laughing about how they just gave up a 14 point lead to the div rivals dolphins that it would be a big deal? So they just give up their lead in the afc east and have put themselves in a must win situation and they are joking around about it in the locker room and thats not a big deal? and you say you play ball? well I coach and if any of my player ever started laughing after losing to our rivals and giving up our lead in the div they wouldnt ever do it again when i was done with them. I agree its not a big enough deal that you bench them but to say its not a big deal at all is just wrong of course its a big deal. It shows you exactly what kind of players they are right now, not mature enough to take this seriously and they just "get it" and thats a problem.Posted by MVPKilla2009

Dead on. I coach as well and agree 100%. This team has talent but no heart. Brady is off this year. If this team played with heart and game day changes when needed they would be a real threat.

If we had anyone like Bruschi on this team this stuff wouldnt happen but we dont and so its going to happen. Sorry to break it to you gys but we dont have the veterans to police the locker room anymore so this kind thing might happen. You cant react like a Jets fan and bench both your starting safetys.Posted by MVPKilla2009

That is it Tas. I think what the pats had before that is lacking now is leadership on the defensive side of the ball. If you've got Bruschi, Harrison, Vrabel, Seau, Colvin all on the same page about how to play and practice, it didn't matter if Seymour was getting out of line. They could bring him back. But who is doing that now? Is Wilfork the guy? He is only one. Mayo? Second year guy. Does he have enough respect from the vets?

The bad news for the pats is that Belichick must have realized that his old leaders really had crossed the line where their loss in skill trumped their role as a leader on the team. This has got to be a very difficult year for Belichick. Not just the losses, but the culture of the team has been lost and he didn't have the right players in place to take the leadership baton from Bruschi, Vrabel, Harrison, etc.

And don't get me wrong, this doesn't mean the pats are bad. But from a colts fan point of view, I've always said that it was Belichick's defense that won them all of those championships. Manning is a smart smart QB and Belichick and his D at times just befuddled Peyton. From that perspective alone, the Pats D was intimidating. Not so now.

I hope youre right. I think Chung will bring a physical presence to the safetey position that has been missing all year, and I think Sanders is just flat out better than Meriweather.Posted by dshort3333

I'm going to have to wholly disagree with the Sanders vs. Meriweather thing. I don't think I've heard anyone argue that Sanders is a better option, not to mention Meriweather is a borderline ProBowler this season.

If those guys were laughing in the locker room than the punishment should fit the crime. The rest of the team should gang up on them and make them cry. Pin them down with their kness on their shoulders and drool spit down on their faces until they cry or say uncle. Posted by ewhite1065

In Response to Re: Sanders and Chung will Be Starting Safeties this Week - Bet on it : I'm going to have to wholly disagree with the Sanders vs. Meriweather thing. I don't think I've heard anyone argue that Sanders is a better option, not to mention Meriweather is a borderline ProBowler this season. Posted by thetrinity12

when I said that I think Sanders is better, I meant as a whole. He doesnt get caught out of position like Meriwether does and he brings a little more physicality to the game than I have seen so far from Meriweather. Rodney Harrison said at the beginning of the season that he felt Sanders would be the best guy to take his place. I think from an experience standpoint he was right. Meriweather is the better athlete but he is caught gambling a lot. He also makes a few picks every now and then. I think McGowen plays with reckless abandon and I love it but our future is Chung and Meriweather.

personally i think its highly unlikely meriwether sits considering he is the best defensive back we have, regardless of whether BB wants to teach him a lesson or not, now is not the time for that. we are clinging to a one game division lead with 4 games to play, now is not the time to be benching one of our most productive defensive players just to send a message..

that being said, they have played most of the season without getting any real contribution from AT anyway, so may as well not even dress him...

In Response to Sanders and Chung will Be Starting Safeties this Week - Bet on it : they should put merriweather at CB.. making such radical changes at safety is not right esp for doing nothing egregious. wont come out good in the locker room. the brandons have been there all year! both have earned bel's praises and won awards. sanders makes all the plays and is always in position. i believe chung and sanders both play the same position. in nickel or dimes, extra db situatn, i would move merri to extra CB with sanders up there with mcgowan at safety. chung is still learng!Posted by bubbazilla

Tedy Bruschi had a chat on espnboston today and he touched mostly on the struggles in the locker room and on defense. Always interesting to hear what Bru has to say and I love how he said if I were on the team I'd definitely confront Thomas.

"when I said that I think Sanders is better, I meant as a whole. He doesnt get caught out of position like Meriwether does"

In the super bowl against the Giants on the Plexico Burress game winning TD it was James Sanders who was not where he was sopossed to be and left Ellis Hobbs on an island by himself. Hobbs took a lot of sh*t for letting that TD happen but the truth is he was covering for Sanders who was in the wrong place. That is just one example of James Sanders being out of position I am sure there are more.

This stuff is a big deal because they are 7-5, and on the brink of missing the playoffs. This stuff would not even be reported if they were 10-2 or 9-3 and clearly in the driver's seat. This stuff has probably happened over the years, despite the Bruschis, McGinests, Vrabels, and Harrisons policing the team, it just doesn't matter when you are winning. That is the bottom line. This team wins the next 4 games, and all will be close to well - some things obviously need to be addressed in the offseason - and host a playoff game. BB draws a line, but he is not stupid. He will play his best 11.

BB will do what he did after the 2002 season he will clean house. He will go into his first coaches meeting and rip everyone a new a sshole. He will pick out the areas of need and he will get them done. He does not like losing like this and he will fix it. That was the year he cut Lawyer Malloy.

With that said no way we miss the playoffs. I still think we will get hot when it counts and make a real push for a super bowl. We will shock a few people.